A HERBAL medicine company with celebrity customers has decided to relocate to the Channel Islands - because it could not raise £150,000 to register its products in the UK.

The Little Herbal Company in Holmfirth, which sold skin creams, soaps and other holistic therapies, closed in June with the owner claiming 'victimisation' from The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The business, whose customers are claimed to include Barbara Windsor and Emmerdale actresses Samantha Giles and Deena Payne, re-opened as Little Herbal International in Jersey to bypass a European Union directive.

In December last year, the holistic firm received a memorandum from MHRA, stating the company must register all products under the Traditional Herbal Medicine Products Directive.

The basic fee when products are registered and tested is £2,250 per product for those containing three or less ingredients and £3,375 for those with more than three ingredients.

But following the relocation to Jersey, with distribution from Guernsey, the business enjoys roaring trade with more than 5,000 customers via the phone and internet.

But founder and owner Lesley Robinson is disgusted with the treatment she received from the MHRA.

Ms Robinson, who lives in Holmfirth, said: "There was a huge cost involved in moving to the Channel Islands. If it had happened a few years ago I would have had to close the business."

She has even written to the Prince of Wales, who is known for championing complimentary medicine.

In a letter to Prince Charles, Lesley wrote: "Even if I had that kind of money available, I would not be inclined to register the products as the MHRA continually move the goalposts without telling anyone.

"Even our wonderful, innocuous little pot of themba cream, which has helped thousands of people all over the world, cannot now be sold unless it is registered."

Ms Robinson, who worked for 16 years in pharmaceuticals, said: "Small companies like me are being victimised by the MHRA.

"In all, the thousands of jars of our creams and capsules we have sold in the last seven years, we have never had a single problem reported to us."

A MRHA spokesman said: "The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is charged with protecting and promoting public health by ensuring that medicines, healthcare products and medical equipment meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, performance and effectiveness and are used safely.

"This is to protect the public from medicines, which are not safe.

"If a product is medicinal only because of the claims being made for it, then it would still be classed as a medicine and need the appropriate licence.

"The Little Herbal Company did include medicinal claims on its labels. The MHRA advised the company to remove the medicinal claims from products in order to leave those products on the market, but the company decided not to comply with UK law."

The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which includes Dame Judy Dench as a supporter, has campaigned against the EU directive at the European Court of Justice.

It said the Little Herbal Company had always been responsible and provided useful products.